Knife for printers  use



' (No Modek.)

L. J. DUS. KNIFE. FOR PRINTERS USE.

No. 401,421. Patented Apr. 16, 1889.

ATTORNEYS.

UNITED {STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS J. DUS,'OF MILWAUKEE, W'ISCONSIN.

KNIFE FOR PRINTERS USE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 401,421, dated April 16, 1889.

Application filed October 9, 1888. Serial No. 237,678. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS J. DUs, of the city and county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Knives for Pressmens Use in Printing Establishments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is more particularly to produce a knife which shall be better adapted than and shall be superior to the ordinary pocket-knife in use by pressmen for getting jobs ready for the printing-press.

As is well known by those skilled in the art of printing, it is common for the pressman to first take a proof of the job, and wherever there is an irregularity in the impression or too heavy printing in some parts and too light printing in others, owing to unevenness in the type, warping of the plates, and from other causes, to mark the parts which are too heavily impressed and to cut out said parts with the knife, so that when said sheet is used either as an overlay or underlay in the press, according to the description of press being worked, it will serve as a sort of packing to make the subsequent printing free from such irregularities.

My invention consists in a knife more particularly designed for the above purpose, of novel construction, and which shall presenta series of sharp cutting-edges, substantially as hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims, and whereby not only the work may be done easier and better but also quicker than by the ordinary pocket-knife, which is not a tool specially adapted for the work, and which requires frequent sharpening to keep it in good cutting order, whereas my improved knife will need but seldom to be sharpened,

and by its use much time and labor will be saved to the pressman.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1- represents a longitudinal exterior view of a knife embodying my invention, having two extensible blades arranged respectively at opposite ends of its handle, and showing said blades as drawn Fig. 2 is a out or extended. longitudinal section, in a plane at right angles to Fig. 1, of the same; and Fig. 3, a view in perspective of the knife with the blades drawn in and as protected by removable caps.

A is the handle of the knife, made of a piece of tubing constructed with two longitudinal slots, 11 11, extending to nearly its opposite ends, to provide for sliding in or out of the tube by means of sliding screws or studs 0 c opposite end blade-holders, B B, according as the blades are required to be extended for use or to be drawn in out of harms way and covered by removable caps C G, to admit of the knife being carried in the pocket, said caps being provided with sprin -catches d d for engagement with the slotted portions of the handleior being otherwise detachably secured to the handle, as desired.

One of the blade-holders 13 serves to carry or has attached to its outer end a blade, D, sharpened on its opposite sides and edges cc, and which may resemble in shape the blade of an ordinary metal ink-eraser. This blade is more particularly intended to be used for sharp cutting by pressmen when getting work ready for the printing-press, as hereinbefore referred to, and by its use much work will be saved to the pressman. The other bladeholder B has attached to it a blade, D, sharpened from both sides and having more than two-that is, at least three-cutting-edges, e e c. This blade D is entered within a slot in the outer end of its handle, and is pivoted to the latter, as at f, whereby said blade may be turned and adjusted to cut at any desired point and from any of its edges, and it is retained in positionwhen adjusted by a springpawl, g, made to engage with a ratchet, h, fast on the blade or its pivot f. Any other suit able spring-catch may be used to hold it in position, if desired. Said rotatable manyedged blade D will answer to do the general cutting-work of the pressman in getting work ready for the press, while the other blade, D, may be used exclusively for cutting sharp angles or corners, as desired.

The whole knife when in use will be held in the h and as a lead-pencil is ordinarily held. The cutting-edges of its blades will be better adapted for press-work than is the single cutting-edge of an ordinary pocket-knife. By

once sharpening the cutting-blade D, if made of good steel, it will keep sharp during an entire days work by the pressman, its several edges being reversible for use in case of dullness of any one of them, and by the use, in addition, of the other blade, D, the knife will have at least five cutting-edges, and consequently be equal to five pocket-knives in its capacity for work, thus saving the pressrnan much valuable time and trouble in sharpening blades.

Having thus described my invention,I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with the knife-handle, of extensible blade-holders at opposite ends thereof, a stationary double-edged cuttingblade attached to one of said holders, and a rotatably-adjustable blade having a greater number of cutting-edges attached to the other LOUIS J. DUS.

Witnesses:

J OHN G. LIVER, EVA LIVER. 

